![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hardball-300x158.jpg\")
<\/a>In 2004 I was watching Hardball,\u00a0<\/em>the show formerly hosted by Chris Matthews,<\/strong> when his guest for the evening was Donna Brazile.\u00a0 \u00a0Ms. Brazile was coming off an unsuccessful stint as Al Gore’s campaign manager and at that time was the chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute.\u00a0 On that episode of Hardball<\/em>, she was asked about Tom DeLay, who was the House Majority Leader.\u00a0 DeLay had made millions in the pest control business<\/strong> before entering politics (where he no doubt made millions more).\u00a0 She made a derogatory comment about DeLay being “just a pest exterminator”, which in her estimation made him unequal to his task.\u00a0 Matthews stopped the interview and told Brazile that being an exterminator was honest work and that in his religion \u201cto work was to pray\u201d<\/strong>. Matthews also noted that DeLay had been a successful exterminator while she was a failed presidential campaign manager.\u00a0 He finished by saying, “There is honor in all work.”<\/p>\nIf you are fortunate to find a job that you love,<\/strong> and that gives you opportunity to expand your horizon, work can go a long way toward a positive sense of self and becoming expert in your field.\u00a0 Personally, I love watching people who are good at their jobs, whether it’s the street cleaner or a mechanic.\u00a0 There is a poetry in watching skilled hands<\/strong> do what they’ve been trained to do.<\/p>\n I recall my own experience with a bad customer<\/strong>.\u00a0 After I retired from banking, I took a job one day a week in a yarn store.\u00a0 One day a woman came in.\u00a0 I didn’t know her but was aware that she lived in my community.\u00a0 Without preamble she began to make demands, messed up the inventory and generally treated me as her personal servant.\u00a0 Twenty minutes into her visit a mutual acquaintance walked in who commented to the nasty woman, “You know, Suzanne also lives in our community.”\u00a0 The customer’s jaw dropped to the floor<\/strong>, as she said rather incredulously, “You do??!!!”\u00a0 After that she bent over backwards to be nice to me.\u00a0 But it was too late.\u00a0 I knew who she was.\u00a0 She was a nasty person, one who treated those she deemed beneath her in a despicable way.\u00a0 As it turned out, she was later brought up on charges at our club TWICE for berating our employees.<\/p>\n So maybe we all have a part to play<\/strong> in getting people back to work.\u00a0 We should honor all work…and be nice!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson In 2004 I was watching Hardball,\u00a0the show formerly hosted by Chris Matthews, when his guest for the evening was Donna Brazile.\u00a0 \u00a0Ms. Brazile was coming off an unsuccessful stint as Al Gore’s campaign manager and at … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/work-is-good-for-the-soul-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>I couldn’t agree more with that sentiment, which is why I am a bit befuddled by the high number of job openings<\/strong> in this country.\u00a0 Work is good, and there is nothing like the satisfaction of doing a job well.\u00a0 There are innumerable articles that have been published over the years about the benefits of working<\/strong> and they mostly boil down to a few things.\u00a0\u00a0Work provides structure.\u00a0 When all else is falling apart, it is good to have a place to go every day that provides stability.\u00a0 A workplace can also provide friendship.\u00a0 Sometimes it’s our friends at work that make a job bearable, especially when the boss is a jerk<\/strong>.\u00a0 Nothing better than having a common enemy to bring people closer.\u00a0\u00a0Work also provides money.\u00a0 This seems obvious, but for anyone who has ever wondered how they are going to pay rent or buy food, a good job is invaluable.\u00a0 When basic needs are taken care of a job can provide the cash to do fun things, like planning a vacation away from work.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/retirement-300x238.jpg\")
<\/a>So why are so many people choosing to stay home?\u00a0 And how in the heck are they supporting themselves?\u00a0 I’ve been told it’s the “gig economy”<\/strong>, where people pick up jobs as they feel like it and jump from place to place.\u00a0 While the freedom that provides sounds enticing, I question how satisfying that is in the long run.\u00a0 In my father’s generation people worked for the same company until they were ushered out with a gold watch.\u00a0 My generation was influenced by the “Me, Inc.” philosophy<\/strong>, where people divorced themselves from lifetime employment and took more control of their careers.\u00a0 These days it seems like it’s a free for all.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WFH-300x199.jpg\")
<\/a>Of course, COVID has not helped the situation.\u00a0 There has been a great, and unfair, divide<\/strong> between people who could easily work from home in their pajamas and those essential workers who were asked to show up regardless of how rampant the virus was in their community.\u00a0 And then, of course, those people were subjected to some customers who treated them poorly<\/strong>.\u00a0 That might explain why people are reluctant to return to work – who needs the abuse?<\/p>\n